Mini-Reviews of HOW TO MAKE A KILLING (2026) and KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949)

April 16, 2026

First, there was a 1907 book by Roy Horniman entitled "Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal." This was about Israel Rank, a gentleman whose main mission in life was to avenge the injustice done to his mother. His mother had been cast out of her aristocratic Gascocyne family because she married outside their class. He knew he was an heir to the Gascoyne fortune, and all he needed to do was to kill everyone ahead of him in the family tree. 

In 1949, there was a film entitled "Kind Hearts and Coronets," directed and co-written by Robert Hamer.  Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) avenged his Mama (Audrey Fildes) by killing 7 members of D'Ascoyne family (all played by Sir Alec Guinness!). He fell in love and proposed marriage to Edith (Valerie Hobson), widow of one of his cousin victims. But his childhood frenemy Sibella (Joan Greenwood) threatened to expose his plot. 

In 2026, there was a film entitled "How to Make a Killing," directed and written by John Patton Ford. Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) avenged his mother Mary (Nell Williams) by killing 6 other Redfellows, headed by grandfather Whitelaw (Ed Harris). He fell in love and proposed marriage to Ruth (Jessica Henwick), girlfriend of one of his cousin victims. But his childhood frenemy Julia Steinway (Margaret Qualley) threated to expose his plot. 

I watched the 2026 film first. The whole film was in the form of a flashback from a confession to a priest in the morning of Becket Redfellow's execution. From the beginning, Glen Powell felt miscast as Becket because his face gave the impression that seemed very self-assured and confident, even arrogant. With CCTV, internet, smart phones and FBI agents in the story here, it was very farfetched that Becket was not immediately the prime suspect. Of his kills, only the one against Ed Harris had any impact. The ending was anticlimactic and weak. 6/10

In the 1949 film, the whole film was also in the form of flashbacks, but this was from a book of memoirs Louis Mazzini was writing before his execution. Louis was a consummate gentleman of that genteel Edwardian time. The way he projected genuine kindness and sincerity, it was believable that he could really get away with his crimes. That Alec Guinness played all the victims, including Lady Agatha, certainly upped the black comedy factor. The ending was so much better than the current version, with one dilemma building up to a bigger one.  8/10